Prometheus: 1 Horizons
by zzetta13
Summary: P:H is a new story arc that encompasses familiar characters with others that are just now beginning to see life on the page. This story is (AU) so be ready for odd-ball things to happen. Still I hope to explain as I go along, Z.
1. Chapter 1

Prometheus: Horizons

"Horizons"

Author's note: Prometheus: Horizons is a new adventure that I've been contemplating for a couple of weeks. It takes place sometime after the story arc of "Afterglow", therefore there are many characters in the work that are new, but I promise that there will be some that readers will recognize. Now, as far as the story "Prometheus: Afterglow" is concerned, it is not finished. I think it is up to about 6 chapters. I will continue this work, but it may be a while. This new work is but a side journey that I am taking; however, I hope that it will be an interesting one. Thank you for reading, Z.

*************************** The Search, & The Find *****************************

It was astonishing…..watching the mass of the object appear in the window, and also knowing that it was their destination. The globe…. It seemed to have the appearance of floating in front of a velvety dark curtain, as dark as any pool of water reflecting the deep hues of a star-shy night sky. Yet, with its sun, on the opposite side, it seemed to be surrounded by a majestic halo; giving it the appearance of a full lunar eclipse at midday. The sight was breathtaking.

Amanda McClaren looked out at the sphere through wonder filled eyes. She watched as it grew ever larger in the cockpit window, as the vessel, in which she was a passenger, was closing the distance between the two cosmic bodies.

The biologist was new to space travel, unlike her colleagues, this was her first venture into the cosmos. Ironic that her first journey off of planet earth had taken almost twenty-two months to achieve, to reach its destination (given the near FTL speed the machine was capable of traveling). However, if one was to travel to distant worlds, one must be ready for extended periods of boredom, and vast time-periods of hyper sleep, that was part of the journey that Amanda was not fond of.

Horizons, the spacecraft Amanda McClaren had become a crewmember of, had departed Terra Firma nearly two years ago. The space vehicle had been developed and constructed by a man named Thompson Bogzonaire, owner/Operator of Universal Industries, and billionaire in his own right, next to Weyland Enterprise Mogul, Peter Weyland.

Bogznaire had actually purchased the moon, LV-618, from Weyland Industries, and had spent billions of dollars to produce three spacecraft to explore his dreams…scientific study of the universe. He had sent his spacecraft out in separate directions, to venture out in deep space. Of course if any of his crews encountered precious metals or made new discoveries along the way, he could live with that.

His team on Horizons (crew 3), were here to explore this place. An ocean world covered in frozen water (although there were alternate reasons also, unknown to the crew at this time).

LV-618 had a surface layer of thick ice (almost like the moon of Jupiter, Europa, with its ocean of liquid water underneath), yet this cap of frozen H2O was only six miles deep, still, the white stuff gave the moon the appearance of a Q-ball. An almost smooth landscape that denoted high winds that buffeted its surface. The blizzard style weather condition on top made it unfeasible to launch planetary exploration from the surface, but below, if there were ice caverns discovered, or actually excavated by explorer teams, then research could be launched from those caverns, and the world of this little moon and its discoveries could be opened up.

This had been Thompson Bogzonaire's goal. New to space exploration, he had more than enough money to begin partaking in the exploration of the riches of the cosmos. With the success of Weyland Enterprises, and new discoveries being made every day, Thompson possessed the feeling that he was being left behind, that he, somehow was losing ground in the universal marketplace. Without venturing into reaches unknown, how long would it take before Universal Industries would be like riding horses…while other companies had explored and moved ahead? Thompson didn't want to be caught with his feet on the ground while others zoomed across the heavens in spacecraft? An extreme metaphor of course, but it was affirmation, affirmation that Thompson Bogznaire did not want to be left holding his…...

Weyland Industries was the "benchmark" of galactic society. When you're at the top of the totem pole, there were always those at the bottom trying to replace you. Thompson Bogznaire was one of those men. His patents were usually off-chutes of Weyland inventions, therefore royalties were due to be paid. Bogznaire had created an empire off the shirttails of Peter Weyland, now he wanted to run his own show. There were always investors willing to throw money at Weyland Research, even if the venture had a risk of being a failure. PW had ways of making it seem successful, the man had a talent, and Thompson wanted to be like him.

Thompson was a man who had money too, more money than he could spend in a lifetime, yet, He didn't have the fame of Peter Weyland. Where did that leave him? Where should he establish his next goals? Where do you set your next adventure when all the mountain ranges on earth have been conquered? Your next conquest was space, your new goal, your new adventures, your new HORIZONS.

*************************** Horizons *****************************

Amanda McClaren marveled at the wonderment of it all, the world just beyond the window, its beauty, its strength, and its fascination. She felt blessed and lucky for being here, although luck may have had little to do with her being chosen to be a member onboard the Horizons. See, Amanda had connections; she had links to the crew. Her uncle and Chief Security Officer aboard this vessel, Evan Ripley, was the adopted brother to Ellen Ripley, the mother she had lost out in the vastness of the cosmos so long ago.

Amanda McClaren was here now to prove to herself, as well as others, that Ellen Ripley wasn't the crazy fool Weyland Enterprise had led folk to believe. She meant to show that her mother was not a loon, a nutcase whom had been discredited by the Weyland Corporation as being a woman who suffered from "Portal Dementia" (an actual neurological dysfunction researched by Dr. Samantha Canter, as a sickness of the brain that causes dislodgment from reality the longer a person remained out in space). Amanda meant to prove that her mother was totally sane, as was her uncle's mother, Elizabeth Shaw, a woman diagnosed with the same disorder.

Ellen Ripley and Elizabeth Shaw were not women who'd let the stresses of deep space disrupt their ability to live, love and learn. They were women who'd been employed by a company that had thrown them to the cosmic wolves. Amanda knew that Weyland was a master at disguising his faults, a manipulator of the truth, and a separator of fact when he wanted the world to know something. History was full of such men, and, wasn't it a hoot that both Elizabeth Shaw and Ellen Ripley were the birth mothers of both herself and her uncle…. Evan Ripley, what were the percentages there?

Amanda watched as Horizons made its way over the icescape of a new world. Not a new world to Weyland Corporation, but a new world to Thompson Bogznaire and Universal Industries. She wondered at the secrets contained below? The new things that could be discovered, the new medical breakthroughs, she wondered and hoped for the best, and she felt safe with her uncle as security here on Horizons.

END CHAP 1


	2. Chapter 2

Prometheus: Horizons 2

"LV-618"

Author's note: Prometheus: Horizons LV-618 is the second chapter of this story arc. Sorry that it took so long for me to get back to it. Anyhoo, I plan on over stuffing this work with detail (the Horizons story arc), so it may take a while between chapters, I hope readers will remain interested. I promise that there will be some twists and turns coming in future episodes, thanks for reading, Z.

*************************** LV-618 *****************************

As the spacecraft began circling the world below, Amanda McClaren, and the others aboard the space vessel Horizons had been requested to take their seats and strap in. Yet, from her vantage point, Amanda was still able to witness the wonders of the moon that they were about to explore. It seemed enormous and exciting, however, she remained conscious (as did the rest of the crew) of the dangers that could be found below. She had prepared as best she could, but there always remained questions of what could happen beyond preparation. That was the logic of exploration, prepare… but still be ready for anything.

Questions….. Questions were the reason why humanity had chosen to venture into the cosmos, or maybe it was more like, answers. If we already knew what we wanted to know, what would be the purpose? Science was about exploration, and the gaining of the unknown. What could we learn if we didn't squeeze past our comfort zone? It made us realize that we were but a fetus in the cosmic understanding of things, an embryo, an egg. How could we take our place in the society of the planets if we didn't know where we fit in?

As they made their way across the frozen landscape they had maintained an altitude that allowed Amanda to see the curve of LV-618, its edges sloping and fading away into the distance…. like a giant volleyball, she felt excited. Although held back by the restraints of her chair, the Biologist still stretched the straps almost to their breaking point; she could not sit back and relax as the ship made its approach looking for a feasible landing spot.

There were a couple of men sitting in chairs behind her, Evan Ripley, Security Chief of Horizons, and her uncle, and also a man named Jeremy Wong. Each man turned to look at the other and smiled. This was neither man's first trip into the cosmos, they were seasoned travelers, and space adventure to them was as common as icing a cake, well it was for Wong, him being the cook on the craft. For Ripley it routine also, but known to each individual sitting within the confines of their seats, there was an understanding that there was nothing routine about landings, or take-offs. If a crew got too comfortable with this part of space fight, they were inviting trouble. One was not to relax until one's feet were on solid ground, or in this case, solid ice.

"Hole off the Port side Commander," the pilot announced.

Everyone shifted their attention to the left side window of the craft. Sure enough there was a hole there, a tunnel through the ice. Huge in dimension it looked to be the crater size of a small volcano.

"Hot Plate Sir," the pilot looked over at the Captain?

"Likely," he answered.

Amanda turned in her chair and silently mouthed the words to her uncle, "Hot Plate"?

Evan looked at his niece….

"Hot Plate, pilot slang for Boring Saucer," he answered her.

"Boring saucer?"

"Yeah, did you see those big metal cone things in the cargo hold? At their base they're about twenty feet across, the sides come down and unfold like an inverted umbrella, they take the shape of a saucer and are used to bore a hole in planetary ice forty-five feet across. Add to that fifteen feet of melt radius and one of those cones could create a seventy-five foot tunnel through the frozen stuff, impressive, but not as impressive as this thing. The boring saucer used here must have been enormous."

Amanda remembered the metal cones in the hold her uncle had spoken about. To her the two things looked like giant Hershey Kisses. She returned her attention to the hole.

"Wind speed Mr. DeWitt," the Captain requested of his pilot?

"Fifty-five knots Sir, Should I drop a *ZD?" (* zone-drone or mapping probe)

"Kinda calm for winds circling this moon," the Captain's response was one of more contemplation than answer, but then he focused on his pilot, "… take us over the Hole Mr. DeWitt, drop a probe."

With this the pilot lowered the craft and released an unmanned module into the crater.

"Take about twenty minutes to go down six miles boss, survey and then return," DeWitt spoke.

"Take us straight up Adrian," Captain Daniel Wright commanded his pilot, "Lock us into a hover at about four thousand. We'll wait until the probe comes back," he said.

*************************** Into the Pit *****************************

The team was becoming a little bored waiting on the ZD to return. There were waste dumps permitted, and the crew was also allowed to circulate the craft; no one had to be strapped in, however, the navigator and pilot, Richard Hamm & Adrian DeWitt, remained at their posts. Still, everyone else seemed to be elevated into a festive mood, there was too much energy to just sit around doing nothing.

Amanda thought about some of the other crew of this vessel. There was, Trevor Provo, Geologist, Stephen Musk, Archaeologist, Chief Surgeon, Lorain LaVozky, and her assistant Dorothy Cruz. Then there were the members of the Security team, Chief of Security, her uncle, Evan Ripley, and his team, Newman Polk and Bret Bosk, and members of the Investigative and the Survey personnel, Lewis Ricker, Alexander Kauffmann, Luther Bret and Edward Tuttle respectively. And finally, Connell Rosen, Consultant.

In time the probe returned, but it had not completed its task. It had only mapped to a depth of 4.5 miles. There was another mile and a half to go before it reached the waters of a liquid ocean some six miles below.

"What to do Sir," Adrian asked the captain as to how they were to proceed?

"Well, we can't stay up here forever, lower us into the pit, lets see if we can find a landing zone under the ice," Wright gave his orders.

Horizons began its decent, and as soon as the craft hit atmo there was turbulence, but only enough to shake the vessel, not disrupt its course. Down, down, down the vehicle went, until it reached a level of about 23460 feet. The crew became aware of a cavern there, wide enough to accommodate the ship.

"Hole only goes down another three hundred feet Sir, then we smack into solid ice," DeWitt informed his superior.

"Hold here, back into this cavern, we'll set up tent here," Wright said, the Captain then turned to the rest of the crew, "OK folk, we're here, LV-618. I hope you've enjoyed your adventures with Thompson Space lines. Depart left and watch you footing, it's cool out there," Daniel Wright spoke to the team members aboard the Horizons, of course, in his words there was a degree of jest.

END PART 2


End file.
